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To try balancing the discussion a bit:

On the upside, due to the $8M contract, lots of people were able to work and earn a living. The story also mentions how the team had a great time, and probably lots of useful connections between people were made, and tacit knowledge exchanged. Neither of those is traditionally accounted for by the engineering mindset.




On the upside, due to the $8M contract, lots of people were able to work and earn a living. The story also mentions how the team had a great time, and probably lots of useful connections between people were made, and tacit knowledge exchanged.

This sort of reasoning could also justify the TSA.


Your fallacy is: "Glazier's fallacy". See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parable_of_the_broken_window


A little bit of self-doubt is expected from civilised people.

You're wrong in calling my thinking fallacious, because my point was merely to emphasise how reductionistic approaches never give a complete picture, which is why people from a STEM background often benefit from further training in psychology and social sciences. However, Theodores' reply ('A few things:...') does a better job than mine.

Nevertheless, Glazier's fallacy is tangential, so thank you for posting.


> On the upside, due to the $8M contract, lots of people were able to work and earn a living.

Yes but you have to also consider the opportunity cost of that $8M. Were the incidental benefits gained worth the cost?


nooo !! that's why research into the hover-skateboard stopped !!




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